Day.12
day.12 is the twelfth chapter of Hirunaka no Ryuusei. Short Summary Despite the awkward air between them, Suzume tries to act normally around Mamura after he kissed her. She finds herself unable to, however, and confronts him on the roof about why he did such a thing. She says she is unsure whether or not he had been kidding, and is really troubled because of it. Mamura tells her that he had never been able to touch a woman in the past, and that there isn't a way he had done it as a joke. He questions why she even is able to think that it was a joke, and leaves before she can think of a reply. The next day when leaving school, Suzume bumps into Shishio. He gives her an ice cream and they discuss various things, and she learns his first name: Satsuki. After repeating it numerous times, she asks if calling him "Satsuki-san" is okay, but he tells her that they are a teacher and a student, so she can't do that. She realizes that he drew the line between them, but despite being saddened, notices that his lingering cigarette smell makes her feel empty and becomes upset that she can't even control her own thoughts. Long Summary Suzume arrives at school, recalling and wondering about her previous encounter with Mamura. She thinks that Mamura wouldn’t kiss her for kicks and giggles, and comes to the conclusion that maybe there was just a piece of rice on her cheek. She quickly discards that theory. Just as she starts to think how awkward it would be to see Mamura after something like that, he greets her hello in the corridor. She replies, saying "good morning" while trying very hard to avoid eye contact. Before Mamura is allowed to say anything else, she escapes the conversation by saying she says she needs to use the restroom before the exam. As Suzume walks in the hallways she realizes about her unnatural behavior towards Mamura, but is distracted when she notices a huge group of boys begging Yuyuka to curse at them. Getting annoyed and seeing Suzume, Yuyuka grabs Suzume's arm and walks back to class. In class, Yuyuka sits in her seat, very irritated and angry while Kameyoshi and Tsurutani explain to Suzume that all those boys were in a fanclub. The group had started to stalk Yuyuka they saw her preach to girl from a previous class get-together. Yuyuka warns them to stop talking while emitting a very angry aura. Tsurutani, Kameyoshi, and Suzume get the message and walk away, but Yuyuka calls out to Suzume to later on tell her more about the study group meeting that happened the other day. Suzume wonders what to tell her about the study group while Yuyuka continues to say that she wants to know about Mamura. Suzume hesitantly says yes while a feeling of guilt wells up within her, and she realizes that she needs to do something about it. Suzume beckons Mamura out onto the roof while Mamura wonders what it could be, especially after she ignored him in the morning. She asks him why he kissed her the other day, and that she was really troubled, wondering even if he did it for kicks. He asks her if she really thinks he did it for fun. He proceeds to come over to her and pat her head, then says that she was the first woman he ever touched, and asks if she really thought what he did was a joke. While Mamura walks away without a response, Suzume starts to understand his feelings for her. At the exact moment Suzume exits the bathroom in her house later that day, she hears her uncle Yukichi saying “It’s a crush” towards a TV drama he is watching, which surprises her due to her current situation. She falls onto her bed and starts to think about how if she told Yuyuka, it would hurt her. She also thinks of how she only liked Mamura as a friend, and she continues to wonder what other people would do in situations like this. At school the next day, everybody rejoices when the exams end and decide to celebrate at a café by getting something to eat. Suzume, on a whim, avoids going with them while her friends wonder about her strange behavior. She ends up wandering in the school corridors and stumbles upon the faculty room. She looks inside, only to find an empty room without Shishio in there like she had hoped. As she exits the school soon after, though, she bumps into him. He says something incomprehensible due to having his mouth full with ice cream, and offers her one from his shopping bag. She can’t resist ice cream, and takes one while he asks her why she seemed down. She denies this and says that nothing was wrong, but admitting in her mind that he was sharp. He changes topics by showing her his new driver’s license’s picture, since his eyes are only half-open in the picture. Suzume bursts out laughing, and in response, Shishio smiles back at her. Suzume asks him whether his first name was Satsuki (which means the month of May) like it said, and he replies yes, but says that he was born in October. She starts to repeat his name multiple times in order to find a ridiculous nickname for him, but realizes that "Satsuki" sounds best when it is by itself. He agrees with her in a depressed manner while she suddenly notices that she unconsciously called a teacher by his first name. She asks if calling him "Satsuki-san" is fine, but he cuts her off and tells her that their relationship is a teacher-student relationship, and that she shouldn’t do that. He tells her that she should only call people who are special to her by their first name. Suzume realizes that he had drawn the line between them as he starts to go home. She wonders if he has someone special to him despite being extremely saddened by his words. She thinks to herself that his lingering cigarette smell makes her feel empty inside, and she gets upset that she can't even make her own mind flow the way she wants it to. Navigation Category:Chapters Category:Volume 2